Go visit Charles's Liminality and be treated to a disquisition (with pictures!) on budae-jjigae—a Korean comfort-food classic—as well as on Korean terms for "soup" and "stew." This stew was one of Anthony Bourdain's all-time favorite dishes.
Here's footage of Bourdain making his version of budae with Anderson Cooper:
And here's a version by Maangchi, who has been called "the Korean Julia Child":
Charles's version sounds intriguing, what with the inclusion of basil and cheese rinds in his recipe. The first photo of his budae looks deceptively tofu-forward, but subsequent images show that everything is, in reality, perfectly proportioned.
Maangchi's version does the thing Charles dislikes: she adds ddeok (rice cakes) alongside two kinds of pasta: sweet-potato cellophane noodles and ramen. Quel cauchemar! Maangchi also does a thing I disagree with: she adds chunks of pork belly. No. Just... no. I get that the rendered fat makes for more savoriness, but chunks of fatty pork are not what I want to see (or eat) in my soup.
Heh. Thanks. I most probably would not have included basil if it had not already been part of the meatballs, but I would definitely do cheese rinds in the broth again.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen that video of Anthony Bourdain--I will definitely have to give it a look.
The episode where Bourdain goes to Korea with his Korean-American(?) assistant is worth a watch. I found a link to the episode here: "No Reservations," Season 2, Episode 11. Can't remember whether it features budae-jjigae, but I think it does.
ReplyDeleteNow I want some budae. If only it wasn't a billion degrees outside I might make some.
ReplyDeleteAs a side note... I keep all my cheese rinds to add to soups and stews. I have for years. I don't recall where I picked that habit up, but it works really well to add flavor and a little substance to the soup as well. I commend it to you as a good technique to employ.
Mike,
ReplyDeleteIn Korea, there's a Sino-Korean concept called "i-yeol, chi-yeol," which, when talking culinarily, has to do with eating spicy and/or temperature-hot foods on hot days of the year, and cold foods on cold days of the year. (See here.) So now is the perfect time to make yourself some budae!
M,
ReplyDeleteAs for the cheese rinds: I'll get right on that. Do you freeze them, or do you just use them before they go bad?
I do both. I tend to freeze the ones in the summer, as we generally make more soups and stews in winter. But in winter, I just refrigerate.
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